ARMISTICE DAY

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

“In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.”

By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

Have we nothing learned of anything

As the years do come and fly?

Those men who lie in Flanders Fields,

Did they really have to die?

That was the war to end all wars

But we have nothing learned

We have fought again so many times

And bravery medals earned.

The Mothers gazed at photographs

Of their sons so brave and tall,

As they wiped the tears from their eyes

And remembered when they were small.

The knock at the door which brought the news

And told them what they already knew,

That their boys had paid the ultimate price

And they knew what they must do.

They went on with their lives and proudly waved

As the next generation marched away,

They held in their hearts the dreadful ache

And watched at the dawn of the day.

The years have passed and still they march

With the pride of their country their aim.

It’s not just a war but terrorism they fight

And freedom the thing that they claim.

They are young and full of life

And this the core of their story

That many come home – welcomed it’s true

But draped in their country’s glory.

We no longer leave them where they fall

We try to bring them home

We bury them in familiar ground

And no more will they roam.

The medals they won and the uniforms,

The letters and love from their heart

We have learned nothing from Flanders Fields,

It’s just like it was at the start.

©  Linda J. Vaughan

June 19^th. 2006